ritingon

@ritingon.bsky.social

170 Followers 384 Following

Recovered blogger. HS/college/law school/test prep tutor/coach. Intl politics, especially west/central Asia. Registered patent agent (non practicing). Also dogs. Occasionally hockey. It's been one of those lives.

Shiba Inu looking expectantly up hoping to be given more special snacks (in this case pancakes)
post-match summary from Bing: Spain are crowned the 2026 World Cup champions after securing a dramatic 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina! Ferran Torres delivered the fatal blow in the 106th minute, emphatically breaking the deadlock and capitalizing on the one-man advantage handed to La Roja following Enzo Fernandez's late dismissal in normal time. The South Americans fought desperately to hold on, but European supremacy prevailed to claim international football's ultimate prize.
Side by side posts from 1) (American) Dan Drezner about Spain fucking things up and Argentina coming back and 2) Local Observer telling Americans to shot the fuck up and not jinx it.
Excerpt from an article quoting Georgia's FM licking the balls of the Trump administration but also pretty much summarizing what Georgia Dream really thinks about the world: “The discussion could not be more timely as we face complex and evolving challenges that directly affect our national interests, sovereignty, and security. Around the world, radical groups operate under different ideological banners — including, at times, in the name of democracy. Yet their objective is not to strengthen democratic institutions, but to weaken them,” Botchorishvili said, as quoted in the ministry’s press release. According to her, “Georgia serves as a compelling example” of these challenges, saying the country has witnessed “repeated attempts” to undermine its democratic institutions, including “coordinated campaigns” aimed at “discrediting state institutions.” She added that the country has also witnessed “attempts by radical groups to use violence and acts of sabotage as political instruments.” She continued, “Equally concerning are efforts to exploit international institutions to legitimize such actions — through resolutions and other mechanisms designed to exert political pressure on sovereign states while undermining the reputation and credibility of these institutions.”
The meeting also comes as Iraq’s government has pledged to strengthen state control over armed groups, with officials saying militias outside state authority, including Iran-backed groups, would be disarmed by the end of September as part of efforts to reinforce national institutions and security.
Short excerpt from a TWZ article on the new helipad they're apparently installing at the White House. In full: “Let’s do a beauty, let’s not just do a piece of concrete and paint it white,” he proclaimed. “This one is a beauty. It’s got the seal of the White House, it’s beautiful, the eagle, and it’s carved out of granite stone by some of the most talented people you’ll ever meet. And you’re landing on granite, which is the strongest stone that we can like.” The last sentence is highlighted.
Totally invisible red heeler with a mask on and a bunch of leaves hanging off of it.
The reason for this, it eventually becomes clear, is that Boromir does not see himself as part of the story of Middle Earth. The complex interactions of forces that came before him, the tangled histories that continue to ensnare people in the present day—such as Legolas and Gimli fixing to start a fight over which of their races caused the friendship between elves and dwarfs to fail—all of these feel immaterial to him. Unlike his brother and his father, he doesn't care about lore and history, and doesn't understand what relevance they have to the life of a warrior. There is a concrete problem to be solved, and as far as Boromir is concerned, the solution to that problem is to move forward and attack it, not look back. In a pair of chapters in which, as we've already noted, the past has teeth, and a longing for it may prove fatal, the fact that Boromir's refusal of the past is also treated negatively feels pointed. It's Tolkien saying: this too is the wrong way to go about it. Some parts of the past may be irredeemable, but throwing the whole thing away will also lead to disaster. Just look at what happened to poor Boromir.
The general population prefers the Gadsden flag to the Thin Blue Line flag despite both self-identified R and D respondents preferring the Thin Blue Line flag.
Clip from YouGov showing higher support for flying an Israeli flag among both Republicans and Democrats than the population in general.
A blurry bird-shaped thing on a blue background.
But not all of that European reform legacy turned out to be politically comfortable. Such was, for example, civil service reform, one of the more substantial moves of the EU-alignment years. It was designed to shield the civil service from political interference, establish merit-based hiring and promotion, and provide institutional safeguards that would allow public officials to perform their duties without having to calculate whether the outcome would be acceptable to those in power. It took the Georgian ruling party only weeks to dismantle that achievement after groups of Georgian civil servants began signing protest petitions in response to the Georgian Dream’s anti-EU turn. The party responded by amending the law with speed and surgical precision to send a clear signal to civil servants that speaking their minds could now carry consequences. Overnight, the amendments left the public service without the vital safeguards it had enjoyed, a move that was followed by repeated reports of politically motivated purges in state institutions.
Shiba on a leash prancing down a gravel trail.
Black and white ACD staring softly at the camera.
Black and white Shiba staring up with wide eyes. Focus is less than ideal given there was almost no light.
Red heeler in the sun with a giant dog grin on her face
Random unsolicited text exchange with “Jennifer” about how fucking awesome Israel is. It’s all pablum. “How do you see Israel as one of America’s strongest allies?” isn’t even trying to be subtle.
A very concerned-looking red heeler in dim light giving side eye to something.
An extremely concerned ACD on the floor next to a candy cane rope bone.
Highlighted section: Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness Full text in screenshot: “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate. He will tirelessly fight to continue the Great Growth of our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to WIN. Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness.”
Shiba Inu sniffing a low plant at twilight while wearing a harness.
Deputies warn residents after wild predator spotted in Centennial neighborhood
From page four of the 2026 USCT document: Our counterterrorism operations will be executed apolitically and founded upon reality based threat assessments. **Our counterterrorism powers will not be used to target our fellow Americans who simply disagree with us.** We will not permit the weaponization of America’s unparalleled CT capabilities for partisan purposes and in contravention of every American’s God-given rights.
Kobakhidze, Botchorishvili Speak with Zelenskyy, Sybiha at EPC Summit in Yerevan
Sean Bean in Ronin describing how you can't set up shooters directly across from one another because they might accidentally shoot one another. (Note that Sean Bean survives this movie by virtue of being called out for idiot-level tactics directly after this scene and kicked out of the rest of the movie entirely.)
Red heeler sitting on the side of a residential street with tongue out.
The occupied Tskhinvali region’s law enforcement officers seized 48 cans of non-alcoholic energy drinks from a Tskhinvali resident’s car. The 25-year-old woman’s car was stopped at a “border checkpoint” in the village of Roka in the Java district during an operation. An administrative case has been filed against her, and an investigation is underway to refer the case to court. Tskhinvali has one of the strictest regulatory regimes governing the circulation of energy drinks. The ban is systematic in nature and applies to virtually all stages of their circulation – from import to sale. De facto authorities first imposed a ban on the import and sale of energy drinks in 2012, citing risks to public health. In 2024, the “parliament” adopted an updated law that established a complete ban on the import, production, storage, transportation, and sale of energy drinks (including low-alcohol beverages). The stated goal is to protect the health and well-being of citizens.
According to a survey by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), Russians perceive Georgia as one of the most ambiguous partners in the post-Soviet space, writes Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The countries of the South Caucasus, including Georgia, form a “zone of turbulence” where the level of trust fluctuates between 3% and 12%. Despite Georgia’s popularity as a tourist destination and the normalization of economic ties, it is viewed with caution. At the same time, as VCIOM expert Ilona Gezalyan notes, the image of Georgia is noticeably more positive among the young “digital generation”: the country is viewed as open, attractive, and successful due to personal experience, tourism, and cultural proximity, rather than the political agenda.
Copilot search results for Invisalign indicating it’s great for people in Indiana of all kinds.
Closeup of Shiba Inu eye and surrounding fuzz
Shiba Inu staring down at a vanquished (killed) garter snake.
Two turtles on a half submerged log with drifting water plants just visible under the translucent water.
Orange cat hiding in green foliage so she should show up easily but no because I’m still shooting in BW so she’s actually rather camouflaged.
Shiba Inu with mouth wide open in an apparent roar (or yawn)
Shiba Inu with her chin resting on a blanket staring off screen to the right.
Sean Connery and a very young Christian Slater in The Name of the Rose.
“The collapse of Ivanishvili’s main pillar of support will change the reality,” Lelo’s Samadashvili wrote in a separate post. “Accordingly, there is hope that the suspension of the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens will no longer be on the agenda, as the EU will become more effective in terms of sanctioning Ivanishvili’s regime.”
Other commentators have focused on different weaknesses of the opposition compared to Hungary’s Magyar and Tisza, including the inability of Georgian political forces to conduct grassroots political work. “No political party in our reality has managed to create a practice of organized, mass grassroots work, including no proper use of sustainable mechanisms of digital democracy has taken place in this process,” Tamta Mikeladze of Social Justice Center, a Georgian human rights group, noted.
But the main example and hope, according to Zurabishvili, is that authoritarianism can be changed through elections. “Elections are meaningless, and we cannot beat electoral fraud – this is also a widespread propaganda lie designed to sow despair,” she said.
Orbán’s loss comes as Georgian opposition forces have struggled to come up with unified tactics to resist Georgian Dream’s crackdown. Péter Magyar’s success is now hoped to inspire democratic, pro-Western forces similarly facing the challenge of defeating illiberal rule, as Georgian Dream resorts to arrests of opposition leaders and seeks to ban major opposition parties.
Orbán, once an ally of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, even visiting Georgia to endorse his United National Movement ahead of the 2012 elections that brought Georgian Dream to power, has, over the past years, emerged as a Georgian Dream’s steadfast supporter as it has taken an increasingly illiberal and anti-Western turn. Budapest has also remained among the few European destinations for the Georgian Dream government’s official trips as international isolation grew following Georgia’s 2024 disputed parliamentary vote.
A tiny striped cat hiding in foliage behind a split rail fence.
Shiba and flowers. Shiba is unimpressed by the camera in her face while she’s trying to nap.
Agenda with timestamps [timestamps omitted here, odd camel casing from the original]: 1. Monologue 2. Paula White's Strange Easter Sunday Service 3. Who Really Is Paula White? 4. How Did Paula Become Trump's Spiritual Advisor? 5. The Exposed Megachurch Documents 6. Why Is Corruption So Prevalent in American Protestant Churches? 7. The Scam That's Taken Over the Nonprofit Industry 8. The Mormon Church's Investments in Weapons Manufacturing 9. How Much Money Does Franklin Graham's Nonprofit Have? 10. How Do Megachurch Pastors Justify Owning Private Jets? 11. Graham's Bizarre Alaskan Hideout 12. The Love of Money Is the Root of All Evil 13. What Is Dispensationalism? 14. The Attempts to Usher in the Antichrist 15. Finding Contentment and Fulfillment in Christ 16. The Spiritual War Happening in the White House
For real. The best part is there is no military service requirement to be SECDEF and he's still not qualified. There are bro vet podcasters that have a better resume of mixed military and civilian accomplishments and I wouldn't want them in the Pentagon either. The guy is performative, all the tattoos, all the wannabe motivational speeches and bad pull ups, half rep push ups and "eff aye eff oh" buzzwords. Why else would he install a makeup studio? It's all a stage. The real problem is people play along. His delusional self inflated complex mixed with a taste of military service means he knows everything and he knows best. Not his aides, not his lawyers, not his admirals and generals. And no one pushes back because they fear the boss.
Giant smile on a red heeler standing on a grassy hill
There was a vivid memory of the last battle, out on the outlying flank edging the tree-line. Pithambra from the 7th Squad, facing down a half-dozen of the enemy with a single sharper, which he threw at their feet. But the clay was too thick, Oams later explained, so it bounced instead of exploding, and in the next breath Pithambra was dead. Someone stepped on the sharper later, took off both legs. Too little, too late. She remembered pointing that out even as she pointed at the legless bandit who’d died upright. Those within hearing had laughed for some reason. Thinking on it again made her scowl deepen. Imagine, laughing after having had the crap beaten out of the company. And whenever someone talked about that whole scene now, they ended it by describing that bandit, whom they had named Too-Little Too-Late, and then laughing all over again.
dune poster with the subtext "anyone else wonder how they're going to deal with the term 'jihad' on this one?"
Layers of white flowers at night under a cloudy sky
Shiba Inu with a goldendoodle. The Shiba appears to be beseeching the doodle to get up and play.
Baby doll sitting next to a sign warning of coyotes.